


Half Truths

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [10]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Marriage Proposal, Mild Language, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26217757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: Steven tells his friends about what happened on the beach a few days ago. Connie, seeing a lot of misinformation and a ton of things wrong with the story, decided to tell her side of things.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Series: The end... [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Kudos: 5





	1. The Calm

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Connie kind of goes off and language warnings and stuff. Beyond that, sorry for the sporadic postings. there's not going to be a proper schedule to be honest. it's all written already, but i'm going to space them out a bit when it comes to posting them.

Half Truths:

Connie picked at the plate of noodles from the other half of the leftovers from Steven’s meal the night before. The fish, sadly, could not have been salvaged.

“Well, I like the direction they’re going, but it’s probably best when it’s fresh” Connie said in between bites.

“So, I’m guessing that means we should go there one night for a dinner date?” Steven asked, laying on his sleeping bag, since he’s lacking a bed currently.

“Just as soon as you’re not grounded anymore.” Connie mentioned. “Then yeah. It’s been a while since we’ve actually gone on a date, Steven. I miss being spoiled a little bit.”

“I try to do what I can. I miss spoiling you. And why wait to have that dinner date?” Steven asked.

“Well, considering the fact that garnet grounded you for a month after what happened a few days ago.” Connie began to answer before being cut off.

“She added another month. She thinks I was the one who burned the bed outside, which I didn’t!” Steven corrected, sounding annoyed.

“Two months?! But you didn’t do that.” Connie replied, looking shocked.

“That was a bed?” Patricia asked, looking up from her book and sounding intrigued. “I thought that was a used firepit.”

“Hey, I tried to get Garnet to listen to Peridot and Lapis, but she’s just… she’s been difficult.” Amethyst said, polishing off the fish Connie didn’t want to eat. “Pearl too. It’s like they’re constantly tense and frustrated at the same time.”

“And they seem to pile it on me. Saying that I need to control my powers better, or that they would say ‘what would your mom say if she saw you like this?’. Seriously?” Steven spoke, still sounding frustrated.

“Yeah, I was there for THAT conversation.” Amethyst said. “Seriously, they never acted like this before. Heck, if Rose was around, she probably would bubble both Pearl and Garnet for being jerks to you.”

“Would she though?” Steven asked.

“Knowing her, half of the time, that’s kind of her go-to when it comes to dealing with problems, she didn’t feel like dealing with.” Amethyst replied.

Today was initially supposed to be a cram study day for Connie and Patricia, but since they’ve been studying nonstop for a couple of months, it seemed high time for the two of them to take a break for once, and just hang out with Steven, Amethyst, Lapis and with no real certainty as to why they were there, Spinel. Peridot, who’s usually glued to Lapis’ side, was dealing with technical difficulties over at the clinic. The scanning machine seemed to be broken, according to Priyanka. Despite protests, Peridot still continued to work on finding any bugs. To the group, it was just another hot early afternoon day. And with Steven being grounded for two months, there wasn’t any places Connie would have wanted to go to without Steven. She still felt the need to stick near by in case a panic attack, or insecure thoughts come out of nowhere. Steven, on the other hand, was still confused as to why Connie still stayed around. But he felt as though he shouldn’t ask that in case it made her think about how bad of a friend Steven was.

Lost in thought, Steven was shaken back into reality by Connie.

“Yoohoo, Strawberry to Biscuit. You home?” Connie asked, gently poking Steven’s cheek.

“Oh ... Yeah. I’m here. Sorry.” Steven replied.

“Doing okay?” Connie asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Why?” Steven replied with a question.

“Your kind of going pink again.” Connie said, sitting next to Steven and gently holding his hand, which Steven had just noticed was bright pink.

“Oh man, no!” Steven said, shutting his eyes tightly, and trying to imagine the ocean waves. ‘Cookie Cat ice cream. No, bad memory of fighting monsters. Strawberry jam and biscuits. No, proposal. Picking wild strawberries with Connie at the ancient battlefield. Hanging out with Amethyst. Funland arcade. Fry bits. Normalcy. Basic things.’

And like that, the pink glow rescinded. What didn’t go away was the mild reaction on everyone else’s face, and the warmth from his gem.

“Hrmm… 9 seconds. They’re taking longer.” Amethyst said, looking at her stop watch on her cell phone before putting it back in her gem. “Don’t mean to bug you man, but if you want to talk… yeah… we care about you.”

“Is… is it me? should I leave?” Spinel asked, looking nervous. Before getting up out of the desk chair she was sitting backwards in. “Actually, I should probably go. I didn’t mean any harm.”

“Spinel… can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think it’s you. You can stay. If it’s alright with Steven.” Connie said, sounding strained at the prospect of being nice to Spinel.

“S-Steven?” Spinel asked nervously. “Is it okay… if I stayed?”

“Yeah. it’s alright… It’s not you.” Steven said, wiping a tear from his eye. “Just… everything going on. Garnet and Pearl acting mean. My glowing and powers acting up. Medical issues. The… thing.”

“The thing?” Lapis asked, sounding highly curious. “What thing? Is it a cool thing? A bad thing? If it’s a bad thing, I can just dro- I mean… bubble it?”

“I don’t think it’s possible to bubble something I did in the past.” Steven sighed in resignation with the painful and embarrassing memories.

“If only It would be that easy.” Spinel spoke. Steven and Spinel caught each other’s eyes, and for a moment, they were in total agreement that there were some things about Steven’s mom they had wished they never knew about. But at the same time, would that have changed things?

“So… If you don’t mind me asking, what was the thing?” Patricia asked as she set aside the textbook she was glancing through, giving Steven and Connie her full attention. Connie and Steven glanced at each other, in hopes that they could come up with a legitimate answer.

“Um… The thing? It’s… it’s nothing. Really. Just, um, a… memory?” Steven began, looking at Connie in hopes she’ll continue.

“Yeah. about how we met, actually! It was pretty embarrassing.” Connie answered before passing it back to Steven.

“Very, very embarrassing! Like, if I talked about it right now, my body might do weird stuff.” Steven said, trying to deflect any more inquiries. But so far, Patricia doesn’t seem to be buying it. “But… um…”

“Are you telling her about the first time you and Connie first saw each other when you were a scrub brush on top of a van? The first time Connie saw dem biscuit buns when you were fighting the evil frybo mascot? Or was it the time where Connie nearly turned into a pancake, if it weren’t for your valiant effort of accidentally creating a bubble around the two of you to prevent that bolder from crushing you both, leading you two on what some would say to be the most dangerous first date imaginable?” A familiar voice was heard from the ceiling beams above them. Perched above them was Obsidian, toying around with another strangely shaped Rubix puzzle. “Kind of hard to figure out which would be the better lie to cover up what happened on the beach a few days ago, don’t you agree?”

Steven had turned completely pink, yet again. This time though, Connie wasn’t going to soothe him. Instead, she shared in his frustration.

“Obsidian, please. Not. Now.” Steven said sternly.

“Actually, never mind. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. It’s okay.” Patricia said.

“Boo! This one’s no fun.” Obsidian mocked.

“Not cool, Ob’s!” Connie growled, seeing her friend looking embarrassed.

“Listen, I might not be a full-fledged therapist like Priyanka was in Steven’s dream the night before last, but I can safely say that the more you talk about it, the better you feel, and the more insight you can gain on your emotions.” Obsidian spoke, hanging upside-down from the beam. “but if you wanna ball it up, and be pink for the rest of your life, Biscuit, I’m not going to stop you. Just make sure you’re not an enclosed area when you go boom and destroy half the house.”

“What kind of advice is that?” Amethyst asked, slowly shaking her head.

“When you get poofed and end up stuck in your own gem for over a year, you tend to have some free time.” Obsidian said before flipping from the ceiling beams, and onto the ground, right next to Patricia. “the number of books I have in this gem can rival every library on the face of the planet. Also, the internet.”

“You’re saying you have more books and information than the internet?” Patricia asked, sounding very skeptical. “How… how is that possible?”

“When you have a good heart, a sound mind, and a gem made from shattered sapphires, rubies, pearls, amethysts, and Rose Quartz's, bounded together by a dangerous amount of dark matter for an eyeball, anything is possible!” Obsidian cheered as she tossed confetti into the air, and landing nearly all over the place, but mostly on Patricia’s hijab. “Oops, got a little fun-fetti on your hoody. Sorry.”

“No… it’s fine. And for the record, it’s a hijab.” Patricia said, as she gently brushed the confetti off her head and shoulders, onto the ground, and into a small pile so she could throw it away. “So much for you knowing everything.”

“No, I kind of knew it was a hijab. But since you’re a cool person, and cool people wear hoodies, I figured meh.” Obsidian shrugged. “I mean, Spinel’s got a hoodie and she's kind of hip. Right, Spinel?!”  
Spinel could do nothing more but pull the worn hoodie she was wearing over her head, and pull the drawstrings to avoid being more embarrassed.

“Yeah, she knows what’s up!” Obsidian said, pulling the hood of her cape over her head and down the front of most of her face.

“Well, still, it’s not a hoo- wait, you think I’m cool?” Patricia asked, seemingly shocked.

“Cool? Yes.” Obsidian said, moving her head around after covering her face. “Oblivious to how cool you are? also y-”

“Obsidian.” Connie said in a stern voice that almost sounded like her mother.

“Y…you need to be told how cool you are more often. I’m ashamed of you all!” Obsidian said, readjusting her hood. “Now will you excuse me; I’m going back up to the ceiling beams and be invisible.”

Obsidian, gently tapped the ground with the tip of her toe, and gently floated upward, back onto her perch. The sight of Obsidian’s trick caused Patricia’s jaw to drop.

“Obsidian… does she...” Patricia was finding a hard time trying to find the words, prompting Steven to help her out.

“Always act so strange? Yeah. She’s a hard person to fully figure out, but she means well.” Steven replied as the pink glow subsided on it’s own. “She’s a tough nut to crack.”

“I sure as heck hope so! Cracked gems are a serious thing.” Obsidian called down to Steven.

“You know that’s not what I said right? It’s a metaphor of trying to understand you!” Steven replied.

“Then where’s the lie!? I could have been talking about two different things in two different sentences!” Obsidian replied. “Wait, what time is it?!”

“1:20!” Patricia replied.

“Shoot! Time for my lunchtime haunting of a random person in the town! Hope Ronaldo is home on vacation from college.” Obsidian mentioned, as she floated back down and pulled out a lizard mask painted white. “Seriously, it’s fun to mess with that loony toon. Especially when he’s doing his podcast. And he should be thanking me too since I’m probably the reason why anyone would tune in to him.”

As Obsidian floated out the door, and changing her face to look like a snake with one eye, something had dawned on Patricia.

“SHE’S THE SNEOPLE SPECTRE?!” Patricia said out loud, confusing all but Steven. “I should have gotten her autograph. She’s pretty much right. Some people in the forums thought the show was a parody of conspiracy shows.”

“Yeah. She’ll do that.” Steven said, before looking at the sliding glass door to see that obsidian wasn’t gone just yet. She had a smile on her face. one that many would mistake as a normal smile. Steven knew that Obsidian never did normal. “Um… Obsidian?”

Dread filled Stevens mind, as the pink glow slowly came back. He knew that smile. It was the same one she had when she got Connie to confess about her witnessing the Frybo incident. Nothing good came from that smile.

“But, yeah, Steven, you really got to tell your side of the story of when you proposed to Connie. Later!” Obsidian said with a smile as she walked away.

Everyone in the room shot their attention towards Steven and Connie, while Steven began crawling into his sleeping bag head first, while Connie facepalmed herself and hoped she would vanish from existence.

“Steven, what the heck dude?!” Amethyst exclaimed with a mix of shock and amusement. “I knew you were going through some things, but that’s just… wow.”

“I have to agree with her, Steven. That was a grade A himbo move.” Lapis said with a smirk.

“Steven… buddy… What's a proposal? Like a business proposal? Oh! Are you going to make a rival bakery to go toe to toe with Lars?” Spinel began shooting out questions, and looking excited. “It’s about time those three got what was coming to them! All i asked to be wrapped in fondant. I had the money too! I just wanted to know what it was like to be a cake…”

“Kind of overrated, not gonna lie.” Amethyst said, shape-shifting into a wedding cake with Steven and Connie dolls standing on top.

“Did… did that really happen?” Patricia asked, blushing.

Steven let out a loud groan while seemingly curling up into a tight ball.

“No! Well… not like that.” Connie said, looking embarrassed. “Basically, we just talked about the future, took care of some misunderstandings. Everything’s fine.”

“Ah. So, that is what fine looks like, huh?” Spinel asked, looking over at the balled-up Steven in his sleeping bag. Connie looked over at Steven empathetically sighed.

“Things are complicated. Maybe we should talk about something else? Maybe study some more?” Connie asked, trying to change the subject.

“Boo. Come on, It can’t be that bad. Can it?” Lapis asked, prompting Steven to uncurl inside of his sleeping bag and sitting up, his head peeking out of the opening.

“Guys. You have no idea…” Steven said, sounding depressed. “It was pretty bad.”

“Steven…” Connie said softly, looking worried.

“It’s okay, Connie… it’s probably for the best if they knew.” Steven said before getting comfortable.

Steven told them everything he had told Priyanka. Overhearing Connie and Patricia, fretting and worrying about his perceived failing relationship with Connie, being given bad advice from Ruby and Sapphire, and ultimately proposing and being turned down, but ultimately found a happier ending. The reactions on everyone’s face was mixed. Amethyst sat on the ground, looking completely dazed. Lapis was doing her best not to laugh. Spinel contorted her face to look like an UwU face with pigtails. But Patricia smiled from ear to ear and blushing. Their comments were just as varied.

“Bruh… you’re still a teen… I’m not ready to be an aunt just yet, man!” Amethyst exclaimed, shaking her head.

“That was a pure himbo move, Steven!” Lapis said while laughing. “I’ve seen a lot of romantic angst shows, but that, THAT, takes the cake.”

“Aww. I thought it was cute about how they made up in the end. I’m gonna call you two ‘Connverse’ for now on. Stevonnie was already taken it seems.” Spinel sighed, smiling.

“It was really romantic. Oh my gosh!” Patricia squealed. “I know you said ‘not yet’ Connie, but even you had to have some thoughts on a wedding at some point. We should collaborate!”

Connie, on the other hand, was not amused.

“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So, Amethyst, you’re correct. Lapis, no one is allowed to call Steven a himbo except me, and ONLY playfully. You’re right to a point, and Connverse does kind of fit. Hit me up later on that, Pat’s, because there seems to be a lot wrong with that story.” Connie said flatly. “Please tell me that’s not what you told my mom in your dream, which by the way we’re going to have a talk about you dreaming about others.”

“What? But that’s how it happened!” Steven protested, looking nervous. “Also, Your mom just kind of floated into my dream. I didn’t have any control over it. It’s not like that.”

“I know it’s not, Steven, but come on, Biscuit!” Connie replied, looking worried before sighing. “It’s probably a matter of perspective, but maybe I should tell my side.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week ago, Pamphlets were stacked on the floor of Connie's room between Connie and Patricia. They were sorted into three messy piles in front of them, with one pile having more than the rest.

“Adobe State?” Patricia asked, holding up a pamphlet for a college campus.

“Hecka nope! Too far.” Connie said flatly, causing Patricia to throw it in the larger pile like a ninja star.

“How about Pensacola Peninsula University?” Patricia asked, holding up another pamphlet, showing a large building in the background of a sandy white beach. “It’s basically a university in paradise! Study on the beach, relax with the waves. Sounds nice.”

“Eh… on one hand, not too far away from Steven. maybe take a day or two to travel back in a car. But at the same time, the novelty of studying on the beach kind of wears out when you have sand blowing into your books and crabs attacking you.” Connie said, looking unsure. “Plus, P.P.U. was rated as one of the top 20 ‘party schools’, and is in the top ten for fatalities during those parties. I don’t do parties, Patty. The last time I had one, monsters broke out of the temple and decimated half of the town. I can’t deal with that kind of stress, monsters or not. Sorry… make a maybe pile.”

Patricia placed it down between the small pile of likely colleges, and the large pile of rejected colleges.

“You wouldn’t have to go to those parties though. And you have a teleporting lion that could take you to the college and then back home every night.” Patricia mentioned.

“True. But Lion isn’t the most reliable source of transportation. Ice cream sandwiches can get expensive on a weekly basis.” Connie replied. “But I can always see if Peridot could drop a warp pad somewhere near the school. Definitely a maybe.”

“Cool!” Patricia replied with a smile. “I was thinking about going to that one as well. Now how abou- oh come on! I already threw two of these in the 'nope' pile!”

Connie looked up to see the dreaded maroon colored pamphlet. She knew which one that was.

“Freaking JayHawk.” Connie sighed in frustration.

“Didn’t we already put a ton of these into the pile?” Patricia asked, looking confused.

“We put 17 of those stupid pamphlets into the pile.” Connie said flatly, opening up the map part of the pamphlet, revealing the distance between Delmarva, and Jay Hawk. “Seriously, that is WAY too far. That’s a 3-sandwiches trip. Plus, when I mentioned the whole party schools and student fatality rates, That place is near the top of both of those lists. And female student’s have been either assaulted or have gone missing, with the school covering it up for the most part.”

“Yikes!” Patricia said, placing the pamphlet into a 4th pile, now solely meant for Jayhawk brochures. “How… How do they even still exist?”

“Like all messed up things, It’s money. Money, and corruption. Makes the diamond authority look like a utopia.” Connie said in an annoyed tone. “I don’t even know what to do, Pat’s. I can’t keep going on with this” 

“Yeah. what they’re doing is pretty much harassment.” Patricia said, nodding in agreement.

“They've been bugging me and borderline harassing me. This has to stop. I have to dump them.” Connie said, shaking her head at the sight of the brochures.

“It’s for the best.” Patricia said. Suddenly, they heard a creaking sound near the door.

“Hmm? Steven?” Connie called out. “Amethyst? Who’s there?”

Connie walked over to the door and looked out, only to see nothing but possibly a shadow.

“Who was it?” Patricia asked.

“Eh, no one apparently.” Connie said as she sat down where she was earlier. “Honestly, I was kind of hoping it was Steven.”

“You were hoping Steven was snooping in on us?” Patricia asked.

“Well, it would be better than having him lying in bed.” Connie replied. “I’m really worried about him, Patricia. Between issues with his gem, and being afraid of the future, which is a shared fear between us all, with the added issues with things at home, I just…”

Patricia could sense Connie’s worry.

“I remember you telling me how you want to protect him from everything, no matter what.” Patricia spoke. “Of everything you told me about him, I can see that.”

Connie laid on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, and groaned.

“If I had his kind of power, I would probably bubble him twice, and feed him sandwiches like a hamster forever.” Connie moaned.

“That’s kind of… odd.” Patricia said, looking down at Connie. “Also, you seem to be a little overprotective of him.”

“As long as I had known Steven, If it weren’t giant gem monsters trying to eat him.” Connie replied before being interrupted.

“I actually remembered some of those videos. Can’t believe you fought those kinds of things.” Patricia added.

“And if it’s not the monsters, either a Gem that was imprisoned in a mirror, or some beefed up juggernaut, both of which have unwarranted beef with Steven.” Connie added.

“Yeah… those arms though.” Patricia mumbled while blushing slightly.

“And if it’s not THOSE things, it’s either mutated creatures created thousands of years ago by some nutjobs who worked for the diamonds, the giant mutated cluster sitting thousands of feet below us, dimwitted feral Rubies, psychopathic bounty hunters, dancing Kevin's, shocking secrets kept from him by people he trusted, trying to put together a freaking wedding only to be crashed by a couple of tyrants, one being someone who kidnapped his dad and threw him into a freaking zoo FOR HUMANS and the other reminding me a lot of my mom!” Connie breathed deeply as she continued her rant. “And to top off that horror show of an ice cream sundae, You have a GIANT, spiky haired sociopathic, intergalactic tyrant who’s haunted Steven’s dream, Steven nearly dying by a mutant jellyfish, fighting off a herd of monsters in the middle of a snow storm. And now he has a gem that seems to be trying to kill him from the inside. I’m only overprotective because it feels like the universe wants to over-kill Steven. He saved my life. It’s the least I can do for him.”

Patricia’s face had not only become completely blank, but also nearly devoid of all color.

“Tha… Wha… Okay, yeah, if I went through that, I would be in bed too. Forever.” Patricia said, sounding shocked. “A lot of the reasons why you want to stay fairly local is really valid. Poor Steven.”

“Yeah…Poor biscuit.”


	2. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie continues the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of hit me what day today is.
> 
> For G.B.; Miss ya, bro. Happy Birthday...

Steven wiped the tears from his eyes. A mixture of pride and guilt filled him.

“That’s pretty much how the conversation went, Steven. You really should have come in. talked with us.” Patricia said.

“We all do things that we regret. And we regret the things we never do even more.” Steven replied.

Connie nodded in agreement to what Steven said.

“We ended up spending the week seemingly playing the longest game of hide and go seek ever played.” Connie spoke. “Every time I tried to talk to you, you avoided me every time. Now knowing that it’s because you thought I was going to break up with you, which is a dumb thing to do, it was pretty valid.”

“Come on, get to the good part!” Spinel protested.

“Yeah, get to the good stuff.” Lapis and Amethyst said at the same time.

“I don’t think you all understand what ‘the good part’ really means.” Steven spoke, sounding scared. “Because if you’re talking about the beach thing, it’s anything but… yeah.”

“Nothing to do now but push onwards.” Connie sighed before continuing the story. “For the most part, Steven was correct, but only up until the proposal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Connie sat on the picnic blanket, looking up at Steven, his hand outstretched, with two glow rings, assembled together to look like an infinity symbol. She was shaken to her core at what Steven had just asked.

“S-Steven… What?” Connie asked, looking shocked.

“Will you marry me? We can perma-fuse like Garnet. We can enroll into Jayhawk like you wanted, we can be together forever! Just you and me.” Steven answered, his smile straining, his forehead began to sweat out of nervousness.

“Steven… sit with me. Talk to me. What’s going on?” Connie asked, sounding worried.

“What? Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fi-” Steven started to answer before being cut off by Connie making a buzzer sound.

“Eeeeeeeeh. Try again, Biscuit.” Connie said flatly.

“Connie… don’t… don’t you want to be with me?” Steven asked, his heart sinking into the sand.

“Steven, you dense biscuit, of course I want to be with you!” Connie replied, standing up.

“Then why don’t you want to marry me?” Steven asked, no longer smiling, but slowly being overcome with depression.

“Because we’re still kids, Steven.” Connie replied, seeing the depression slowly seeping into Steven’s eyes. “We have a long way to go before we get to that point. I was hoping to at least rack up a few grand in student loans at least. But Steven, please, talk to me.”

Just before Steven could even start thinking about what to say, Connie’s phone began to buzz loudly. Out of habit, she looked down at her phone to see who it was. The name ‘Pat’s’ popped up with the face of Patricia, smiling while sticking her tongue out comically.

“Shoot. I forgot about the study group thing… Nope. Not going to it. This is an emergency. Steven, come on. What’s going on with you?” Connie asked, borderline pleading him to say what’s bothering him.

“It’s… nothing.” Steven answered, any and all joy or depression being absent in his voice. “You… you have to go study with Patricia. It’s okay. I don’t want to get in your way.”

“Get in my way? Steven, the only thing in my way is these cram classes. Honestly, the only real reason why I do them is to hang out with Patricia again. But she’ll understand. Steven, I’m really worried about you.” Connie said, her heart filled with worry and anxiety.

“No. I’m okay. You… you should go.” Steven said, plastering a smile on his face in a vain attempt to seem like his old cheery self. Connie wasn’t buying it for a second, but at the same time, she knew Steven wasn’t going to talk now.

“I… I don’t think I can, Steven. Not without you.” Connie replied.

“I’ll be okay.” Steven said, still trying to smile. “I just… need some time to think. Clean things up. I’m okay.”

Connie knew he was lying. But there was nothing more she could do but go back to the house. But not before saying one last thing.

“Steven. Promise me. Tonight. You talk to me. You tell me everything that’s going on. Because this, all of this, does not say that you’re okay.” Connie said, indicating the picnic blanket, cake, snacks, and flower petals that surround them. “This is telling me that there is something dangerously wrong. And if you don’t want to talk to me now, then please talk to me later. Promise me you will. Please.”

“I… promise. I just need some time alone right now.” Steven said in a low voice, still trying to smile while a lone tear dripped down his cheek. Connie went in close and hugged Steven tightly.

“I love you Steven. and I hate to see you in pain like this. It hurts me too.” Connie whispered into Steven’s ear. “I love you.”

“I… love you too, Connie” Steven whispered back. Connie pulled away slightly, only to kiss Steven for a few moments. “I’ll talk to you tonight. I promise.”

“Okay.” Connie said, fully letting him go. “I’ll… see you later then. Bye.”

Connie slowly turned and walk away. Her arms folded together. Before she turned the corner to go up to the house, she turned to look back at Steven, still smiling, but more tears than before. She wanted to go back. She wanted to comfort him. But she knew she couldn’t. Not right now. He needs to open up. Or at least right now, he needed to find the words. Perhaps. Steven looked away, out onto the ocean. If it weren’t for the tears in his eyes, he would of seen the tears in hers.

The ocean breeze blew gently around him. The flower pedals he carefully placed shifted with the wind. The cake box, still open, and kept open by the wind. Some of the lighter grains of sand flew onto the biscuits and jam. The corners of the blanket, slightly flapping in the wind underneath one of the rocks meant to keep the blanket in place. It seemed the world around him didn’t want to keep this place intact. It blew away his hopes and dreams to being rid of the dread. The fear that sat in the pit of his stomach. Residing inside of his gem. Much like the things around him being shifted and blown around, the very same wind, though gentil and light, seemed to have blown Steven over. The person, the being of a number of identities, names, and deeds, the person who had promised to be the protector of humanity. Steven, once seen as strong, was falling, to both the light wind, but to his depression even more. The fall felt like years. His life, feeling as though he was looking back on things while falling. Eventually, he hit the ground, harder than he thought he would.

The sand and dust were thrusted into the air as a dense object struck the beach with unbelievable force. A few of the rocks from the nearby cliff shook loose, but never got close to the fallen object. But even if they did, the object's ability to produce a shield instantly, leaving them out of harm's way. Steven was the object. Or at least he wished he was. Something that cannot feel pain, or loneliness. Steven stared at the sky, as tears slid down the side of his face. He was numb with pain. His entire body ached, and his heart heavy. He swore he could hear his own heart beating loudly. The sound of something muffled. The heartbeat increased in rhythm. He still also heard something muffled. It suddenly hit him that those were the sound of footsteps, pounding away at the sand. The muffled sound turned into a distant scream.

“Steven!” The voice called out to him. “Oh no! Steven!”

Looking up at the edge of the crater, he saw someone. He couldn’t tell who, with tears in his eyes. They slid down the side of the crater, and ran up to them. Then he smelled it. Lavender. Connie.

“Steven?! C’mon! Talk to me!” Connie yelled.

“I’m… I’m oka-” Steven began to speak.

“Don’t you give me that bullshit, Steven! You just created a 20-fucking-foot crater just by falling over. You! Are! Not! Okay!” Connie yelled through gritted teeth, as she looked down at Steven, who’s tears were still falling faster than the tears coming from Connie. “Damn it, Steven. If you ever loved me, then you’ll just freaking tell me what’s going on.”

Steven slowly breathed as he stared up into the darkening afternoon sky. All the strength he had was gone.

“Everyone is leaving.” Steven said quietly. “Everyone is leaving me. No one needs me anymore.”

“No, dingus! No one is leaving you! I’m not going to leave you!” Connie replied furiously. “I need you Steven. It seems like you don’t need anyone. You don’t want anyone to help you. But I know that’s a lie, Steven. Just let me in.”

“You’re leaving me… I heard. I heard what you and Patricia were talking about.” Steven spoke softly, while trying to sound calm. “You said I was bugging you. That you were going to dump me.”

Connie’s eyes shot wide open, as she took her middle and index finger, and gently tapped Steven on the forehead.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Connie whispered as she shook her head.

“I thought… if we got married, and just permafuse, everything would be okay.” Steven said. “We could enroll into Jayhawk like you wanted. We could be together forever. And I won’t have to feel so alone.”

Connie stared deeply into Steven’s eyes for a few moments before shaking her head slowly.

“This… This is the most idiotic thing I have ever witnessed.” Connie whispered as she wiped away her tears. “You thought… I was going to break up with you? You didn’t even come in. You… just thought… Is this like some stupid show that we got roped into? This is one of the dumbest tropes of all time.”

“W…what are you saying Connie?” Steven asked while watching Connie laying down right next to him, slowly shifting Steven over so they could share the crater.

“Steven, I wasn’t talking about you.” Connie said, grabbing Steven’s hand. “Jayhawk has been cutting down giant trees just to mail me those damn pamphlets. They send me e-mails of different kinds, ranging from saying they are the highest rated college, to them saying it’s party central with easy going teachers. They hedged their bet’s thinking that I would go. They were the ones harassing me, bugging me, and now has helped conceive the worst kind of trope in any relationship, which is the whole ‘overhearing half the story’ bit. I was going to dump those idiots. Not you, idiot.”

Connie kissed Stevens cheek while he still stared at the sky.

“What?” Steven asked, sounding dazed and shocked at the same time.

“I was talking to Patricia about Jayhawk sending me pamphlets every day, thinking it would wear me down and force me to go there. Jayhawk is the Kevin of colleges. It’s Kevin college.” Connie slightly ranted. “Did you really think I would dump you so I could go to Jayhawk?”

“Why not? My gem is killing me from the inside, I’m not a hero anymore, and I don’t mean anything to anyone. What’s there to miss. I’m just the mess my mom left behind” Steven replied in a monotone voice.

“Steven, that isn’t going to drive me away. I’m not going to dump you because you have a lot of things going wrong. I’m not going to leave you.” Connie spoke. “And for the record, in the past 5 years, 6 female students disappeared from there. I’m never going there. Plus, it’s like a billion miles away. I’m not comfortable moving that far away from the people I love most. I’ve done it before, and it’s not an experience I want to relive. I’m never going to say goodbye to you.”

“So… why don’t you want to marry me?” Steven asked.

“I don’t recall saying no.” Connie answered.

“So that’s a yes? you will marry me and become Stevonnie?” Steven asked.

“It’s a ‘not now’. Steven, I love being with you, and being Stevonnie is awesome and all, but I want to be me too.” Connie replied looking over at Steven. “Steven, look at me.”

Steven turned to his side, and met Connie’s gaze. Her deep brown eyes never failed to amaze him.

“Yes.” Steven spoke.

“If we perma-fused, we would never see each other. We could never look into each other’s eyes. We could never hold hands. Ticket prices would be cheaper, but you won’t be able to put an arm around me whenever you get scared. I won’t be able to hear your heartbeat.” Connie spoke, staring into Steven’s eyes. “Being a perma-fusion would almost be as bad as being alone. Either way, you won’t be there. And neither would I.”

“You’re right, Connie.” Steven spoke. “In hindsight, it was some really stupid advice.”

“Advice?” Connie asked.

“Well… When I was avoiding you, I was given advice from ruby and sapphire. They told me that them getting married and becoming a perma-fusion fixed everything.” Steven replied while it all dawned on him. “I took advice from someone I thought I could trust. Someone who could see the future. Who would protect me.”

“Garnet.” Connie spoke. “She told you to ask me to marry you?”

“More or less.” Steven replied.

“Oh my gosh.” Connie sighed. “Steven… I’ll stay with you. I’m not going to leave you behind.”

They laid there, staring at the sky until the stars came out. At that point, they both got up, and climbed out of the crater together. And not wanting to leave a mess, Connie and Steven gathered up almost everything. The guitar, the one he had had for years, was smashed by one of the rocks. Plate that had the biscuits and jam on it was chipped, but not destroyed, which was more than what could be said for the state of the biscuits. The only thing that was mostly salvageable was the cake, which now only said ‘toe freer’ on the top.

“Steven? You okay?” Connie softly asked as they walked back to the house.

“No. But I’ll try to be.” Steven replied. “I’m going to try to avoid Garnet for a while. Like, seriously, what kind of advice is that?”

“Not sure. Seems like something Ruby would say.” Connie added. “You need to make sure you tell all of this to my mom tomorrow in therapy. She could better help you with this. I don’t think I’ll be that good. At least for now.”

“For now?” Steven asked. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and when I do enroll in any college that ISN’T Jayhawk or Pensacola university, I might try for a degree in psychology. Either that or astronomy.”  
“Astronomy?” Steven asked.

“Yeah… This might sound stupid, but I… kind of want to go explore other planets. And that space camp was such a bore that I'm definitely not going to be some proto-astronaut.” Connie said, sounding slightly annoyed. “I want to take the leg ship, or any of the gem ships, and I just want to fly around, and write down and study things on other planets. Albeit, no one would take it seriously, but it would make for some decent fantasy writing.”

“Sounds… kind of nice, actually.” Steven spoke with slight optimism before becoming depressed again. “But it means you’re going to be even farther away though.”

“Steven, you’re coming too, you know.” Connie said flatly. “It’s the kind of adventure that I don't want to leave out of. Plus, some of those planets might have no breathable oxygen, and I'm gonna need your bubbles. But mostly because I want you there with me.”

They both smiled at each other and blushed a bit as they walked into the house, the first person they saw was the one they really weren’t ready for. Garnet.

“So, how did your evening proposal go?” Garnet asked holding two balloons, one saying congrats, and the other one saying ‘sorry for your loss’.

Steven stared blankly at Garnet, as he stretched out his arms, and then turned it upside down, causing the cake to fall onto the floor. The eyebrows of Connie’s, Garnet’s, and Pearl’s, who was in the kitchen at the time, shot upward. Startled by Steven’s answer to Garnet’s question.

“I’m going to bed Connie. Goodnight.” Steven said as he turned and walked up the staircase, and instantly glowing pink in the process.

“Where do you think you’re going, Steven! Aren’t you going to clean this up?!” Garnet called out to Steven in a stern voice.

“Not sure, Garnet. You tell me. you’re the one who can see into the future.” Steven said flatly in an angry tone. “You did see me make a fool of myself after all.”

~~~~~~~~

The room was completely silent.at best, the groups collective reaction to the whole story was a mixture of shock, confusion, and concern.

“Connie… no offense, but you suck at telling stories.” Lapis said flatly.

“My current statement still stands with it being ‘bruh’, but… bruh. Steven. guess that explains the cake I had to clean up.” Amethyst spoke, slowly shaking her head. “And FYI, the cake was bland. The frosting was kind of decent, but you still dodged some bullets there, right?”

Steven let out a groan while shaking his head and lying back down.

“Love you forever, Am’s, but too soon.” Connie replied, shaking her head as well. “I know you mean well though.”

Spinel sat backwards in Steven’s desk chair, the lines that had disappeared from her cheeks had come back.

“Steven… I… I don’t know what to say.” Spinel spoke. “I’m really sorry that you’re going through so much. Just know that you’re not alone, okay?”

“I… I know.” Steven groaned as he laid on the ground. “It’s just that everyone seems to have a plan. Everyone knows what they want to do now that all the threats are gone. But what can I do? I feel useless. I hate feeling that. I hate feeling that I need to be needed. What use am I to anyone now?”

“Well… for starters, you’re our friend. We love you.” Lapis spoke, sounding empathetic. Something Steven never heard coming from her before. “Not all of us know what to do though. at least I don’t.”

“And I know I’ve been busy trying to get new gems situated, but for now on, you’re going to be at the top of my list. I’m going to try to help figure yourself out.” Amethyst added

“See Steven, you’re not alone. And thought things are tough now. It won’t be like this forever.” Patricia said with a slight smile. “I know I’m new to the group, you can talk to me if Connie isn’t around. I’m kind of toying around with psychology as well. not meaning to say that I want to use your situation, but… I like to try to help people to. Like everyone else here.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Steven for a moment before things fell apart.

“Usually, when someone is grounded for a few months, it means no visitors.” A deep voice came from the doorway. A very tall, imposing being stood there, arms crossed, and looking stern. Even with the glasses on. Garnet. “Time for you all to go.”

“What? Grounded? Because Steven took one of your stupid advi-” Lapis began to defend Steven before being cut off.

“Lapis. Guys. It’s okay.” Steven calmly said, trying to defuse the situation. “I’ll talk to you all another time. But… thank you. I needed to hear some of those things.”

Everyone stood up and left the room, looking disheartened. Lapis, being someone who knows what it’s like to be imprisoned for long periods of time, took it harder than the others, subtly stomping out of the room.

“This is far from okay. Stupid Garnet.” Lapis muttered almost loud enough for Garnet to hear some of it, just as a sign of aggression and annoyance.

Amethyst and Spinel took one last empathetic look at Steven before leaving the room. Patricia gave a small wave before leaving as well. Finally, Connie being the last one left in the room, hugged Steven tightly.

“I have something I want you to see tonight. Might want to take a shower after sunset before bed.” Connie whispered ominously.

“Okay.” Steven whispered back.

Connie kissed his cheek before saying goodbye to Steven, while trying not to look at Garnet. After they all left, there was no one now but Steven, still in his sleeping bag, and Garnet, standing in the doorway. They stared at each other for a while before Steven laid back down, turning his back towards Garnet. For the most part, no one said anything. The silence was tense, but anything that could be said would have made things worse. Garnet was willing to play those odds.

“You know, Steven. there was no other outcome to what happened that day.” Garnet spoke. His gem began to grow hot. “You were always meant to ask her to marry you at that spot, at that point in time. You would have been rejected, but it would have been for the best.”

“That’s the problem with you, Garnet.” Steven said flatly. “You see into every other future out there. You see how differently, or similarly, things could have been. What you forget to do was to see what was in front of you.”

Garnet’s hands had closed, nearly forming into a fist. Steven turned back to look at Garnet, only for her expression to go from annoyance, to fear. Reflecting from her glasses, Steven saw something pink and bright. He knew it was him.

“Not all of those futures had to be the same. This one could have been different. This one could have been the one that you had told me to just be open and honest with Connie, not ask her to marry me and make things worse than they were before.” Steven spoke in a low, almost shaky tone of voice. “all you had to say was ‘just talk to her, and don’t ask her to marry you yet’. It would have taken you 5 seconds at most. But you wouldn’t give me that much. You could have been the change, but instead, you’re just on the list of all the people I can never trust. I trusted you. And you hurt me.”

“Steven, you know that’s not what I meant!” Garnet spoke through gritted teeth.

“I don’t give a damn what you meant. The damage is done. Make all the excuses you want. Ground me until the heat death of the universe if you want. I. Don’t. Care.” Steven growled. “I don’t even want to deal with you right now. I gave you more time than you deserve. Go away.”

Her form grew more rigged. Her fists shaking, as tears began to fall from underneath her visor. The only thing she could do was turn around, walked out, and slammed the door behind her. Steven laid back down. His gem was on fire again. His skin ached and felt inflamed the angrier he got. All he could do now was say the mantra of things he enjoyed. Frybits. Hanging with friends he won’t be able to talk to for a month at least. Connie, the person who would have stayed by his side, even through this time of crisis.

The pink took longer than it did before to dissipate.

That evening, lurking around to make sure that Garnet was nowhere to be seen, Steven jumped into a hot shower. Sometimes it helped with the aches, sometimes it didn’t. this was, luckily, one of those times that caused him to relax. As he crept down the hall to his room, he saw that his door was ajar. He remembered that he closed it, but at the same time, he remembered what Connie said. Was she in there?

Peering inside, no one was inside. What was inside, on the other hand, was a small, electric lamp, and a notebook on his sleeping bag. Steven crept in quietly, and laid down to read the cover, which had a sticky noted on the front cover. It read:

“You’re not the only one who’s thought about it. Might not be as detailed as yours, but it’s the thought that counts. - Connie.”

‘What did she mean by ‘I’m not the only one who thought about it’?’ Steven wondered to himself before cracking open the journal. The first thing he saw were cut out pictures of traditional Tamil dresses. Steven remembered looking at them with Connie. he thought it was just something cool to learn. There were also small pictures of flowers, a few of them having either circles, or red X’s on them. A few more pictures of cliff-side beaches, and a map that showed where they were. This was highly unusual. Some of it didn’t make sense until he went into the middle of the journal, where he saw something that took him aback.

Connie was a good artist. She and Peridot were. Connie was more of an anime kind of artist, something Steven loved about her, while Peridot was a realist. So when Steven saw a picture of an older Connie and himself, wearing wedding outfits, he knew he had to talk to Peridot. He recognized both art styles. This was Connie’s wedding scrapbook. Complete with a few pages of different signatures with different last names. ‘Connie Maheswaran-Universe’, ‘Connie Maheswaran-DeMayo’, and a few ‘Connie DeMayo’ signatures, but they were crossed out. Steven’s heart filled with happiness for a while. Near the end, Steven saw something that looked odd. A scheduled timeline.

Some parts of it seemed to be hastily scratched out. By the looks of it, Connie had cleared up the next 2 years of high school, and replaced them with either studying, applying for college, or test taking. A note on the side of that block read ‘make more time for biscuit’. Steven’s heart skipped a beat every so often the further he went down. ‘2-year AA’, find an apartment near beach city, have Steven move in, make time to be human and not a studying robot. Find career path’. It all seemed so detailed. Another thing Steven loved about her. She had everything in place, but not the way Pearl would have done it. Connie had priorities, and some of them revolved around either sword fighting, video games, and being with Steven and friends. near the bottom of the page, Steven nearly fainted at the words he whispered out loud as he read them.

“Get a bachelor's degree in something. Plan a wedding. See Steven’s scrap book for more details. It’s his wedding too…” Steven read out loud. He placed a hand over his mouth in shock. “It’s not a ‘no’. It's a ‘not now’. Not yet.”

That night, Steven glanced through the notebook time and time again. A few times, he left a small note on a piece of post it notes. Adding little suggestions before he casually read every detail. Page by page, until he began to feel tired. He closed the notebook and placed it underneath his pillow. But as he laid there silent, a thought crept into his mind. One that he dreaded for the most part.

‘What if Garnet was right? What if I needed to be here? What if this was what I needed?’ Steven had accidentally thought to himself.

He didn’t sleep much that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: Steven and Connie text each-other, as well as Amethyst, to see how they could spring Steven out of being grounded. "Text Visiting".
> 
> Authors Note: this story... yeah. Lot's of feels. next one is going to be borderline crack-fluff, But the one after that is going to be REALLY rough. in fact, "Text Visiting" Is probably the last "towny" story before things go a little insane. No monsters to be had, sorry. But it's going to get deep.


End file.
